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1. Introduction to Centering Prayer

A brief introduction by the founder, Fr. Thomas Keating.
This edited, brief "How To" is designed to encourage further
exploration of the ancient mystical prayer practice that can lead to
Contemplation.

2. Thoughts & Centering Prayer

Fr. Thomas Keating
explaining the useful role of "thoughts" and how to deal with them
while praying or meditating - and the use of your "Sacred Word".

Fr. Jim Martin, author of My Life with the
Saints, introduces centering prayer. This is part of a series on
prayer that also includes segments on Ignatian contemplation and
centering prayer.

4. Oneness & the Heart of the World

In this talk, Father Keating discusses the
dynamic nature of God and the paradox implicit in experiencing divine
oneness. With humor and wisdom, he explores the practice of
contemplative prayer, and how we might begin to approach God through
being present to our senses.

Fr. Thomas Keating
welcomes attendees at the 2010 Annual Conference of Contemplative
Outreach, "Awakening to the Contemplative Dimension of Life" and
offers his reflections on the conference theme.

6. Transformation

Good News and Bad News from the World's
Largest Religion. Thomas Keating is Interviewed by Ken Wilber.

It takes a moment to reconcile oneself to the fact that
the religious tradition of St. Francis and Mother Theresa is also the
tradition of the Crusades and the Inquisition. Fr. Thomas
Keating, considered one of the great contemplatives of our time, has
spent a lifetime in the practice of Christianity, seeking and sharing
its depths. The goal of the tradition, suggests Fr. Thomas, is
transformation—but transformation into what?

Father Thomas Keating spent twenty years as
the abbot of St. Joseph's Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Spencer,
Massachusetts, and is now the leading figure in an interdenominational
movement to revitalize the Christian contemplative practice known as
"centering prayer." He is the cofounder of Contemplative Outreach, an
organization devoted to introducing Christian contemplative practices
to laypeople of all faiths, and the author of many books.

He has met and studied with spiritual teachers from a
variety of Hindu and Buddhist lineages and helped to create the Snowmass Interreligious Conference, at which teachers
from different traditions meet regularly to compare views and ideas,
and to evaluate objectively the benefits and drawbacks of their
respective practices.

8.
What Good is the Church?

Two of the world's most cherished Christian
teachers discuss the role and relevance of the Church in the modern
world, and how it was originally created in order to preserve the
teachings of Christ -- with the singular purpose of helping to bring
people into the exact same relationship with God that Christ himself
had, leading humanity into a space that is truly both "fully human and
fully divine."

While much of this teaching has been lost in the fog of
religious fundamentalism over the centuries, the spirit of this core
intention continues to thrive in such beautiful souls as Father Thomas
and Brother David, both of whom bring extraordinary humor, grace, and
love to a very difficult (and controversial) topic.

How can we grow in our spiritual lives? A short explanation of
centering prayer is provided by Fr. Thomas Keating and others.
The services of Contemplative Outreach, which promotes this method of
contemplation around the world, are also shown.